Being A Servant of God’s Word – Psalm 119:17-24

ג GIMEL [1]

“Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your Word.” Psalm 119:17

David asked God to bless him abundantly so that he could actively embody God’s Word. I relate his prayer to servants of God’s Word who commit their lives to learning, understanding and proclaiming God’s Word. Such servants need God to bless them and provide for them so that they can take God’s Word to those who do not yet know Him.

How did prophets like Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Ezekiel survive in this world? I don’t see anywhere in the Scriptures where it says that people paid them wages to preach. No, they paid a price to speak for God. Yet, God blessed them and provided for them.

And what about the apostles? In 1 Corinthians 9:18, Paul wrote, “What is my reward then? That when I preach the Gospel, I may present the Gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the Gospel.”

In 2 Corinthians 11:7, Paul wrote, “Did I commit sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached the Gospel of God to you free of charge?” Perhaps, some accused Paul of undermining Biblical precedent by not receiving wages for his Gospel ministry. In the Old Testament, those who served God’s Word (the Levites), were supported by those they served.

We learn from Acts 18:1-4 that Paul worked to support his ministry while in Corinth. He worked with a couple of believers named Aquila and Priscilla making tents. But what did he do on Sabbath days? “He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.” He preached God’s Word.

In 2 Thessalonians 3:8-10, Paul wrote, “We did not eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: ‘If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.’” Paul was willing to pay a price to serve God’s Word.

Should a servant of God’s Word receive wages for his or her efforts to share the Word of God? The answer is yes if the beneficiaries want to provide for him or her. In 1 Corinthians 9:14, Paul wrote, “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel.” In 1 Corinthians 9:9 and in 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul applied what Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 25:4, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” to ministers of the Gospel. In 1 Timothy 5:17, he wrote, “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.”

When I was a missionary overseas, at various times, I worked paying jobs to support my Gospel ministry and did not take up offerings from the people that I served. God also moved on the hearts of people from my home country to send financial support for my family of six, and for my ministry expenses. In Philippians 4:19. Paul wrote, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” The Lord provided for us from various sources.

“Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your Law.” Psalm 119:18

We who serve God’s Word need Him to reveal to us the correct application of the Scriptures. In Matthew 11:25, we find Jesus praying, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” Colossians 2:3 states that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 2:12, we read, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

David did not assume that his own perception of God was accurate. He prayed, “Open my eyes.” By nature, we are spiritually blind. We cannot properly understand God without God’s help. Just like we cannot properly understand another human being without dialoguing with them.

In John 9:40-41, when the Pharisees asked Jesus, “Are we blind?” He said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin, but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.” The Pharisees assumed that they knew everything there was to know about God, and did not listen to Jesus, therefore, they remained in the dark about who God really is.

Even after we begin to know God, our understanding of Him must continue to grow. At first, our spiritual insights may be dim, but as God continues to speak us through His Word, our vision becomes clearer and clearer. [2]

The right response to Scripture is not pride, but prayer. [3]

“I am a stranger in the earth. Do not hide Your commandments from me.” Psalm 119:19

In 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, Paul wrote that his sufficiency was from God, who made him a minister of the new covenant by His Spirit. In 2 Corinthians 3:13-16, he wrote that Israel as a whole had a veil over their faces, they were blinded, during the reading of Moses, “because the veil is taken away in Christ.” They were strangers to God due to their efforts to know God on their own terms. The meaning and reason behind God’s commandments was hidden from them. Then, in 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul wrote of being transformed into God’s image “by the Spirit of the Lord.”

In John 14:26, Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

God brought David near to Himself and revealed Himself to David by His Holy Spirit. In Matthew 22:43, Jesus said that David called Him (his future son and Messiah) “Lord” by the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:16, Peter stated that the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David’s mouth. The author of Hebrews 4:7 attributes David’s words directly to the Holy Spirit.

“My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times.” Psalm 119:20

David’s longing for God was not weak or occasional, it was consuming. David did not consider time in God’s Word as a luxury or hobby—he considered it essential. Without it, he felt empty and unglued. He depended on it. His longing for God’s Word was strong and constant. [4]

In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Just as the body cannot live without food, the soul cannot live without God.

“You rebuke the proud —the cursed, who stray from Your commandments.” Psalm 119:21

The proud glory in their own way of thinking and refuse to listen to God. At the root of every willful sin is pride—the desire to be independent from God. Like Israel in the wilderness, they “err in their hearts” (See Hebrews 3:10). Pharaoh’s question to Moses typifies the sentiment of a proud person: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey Him?” [5]

According to Galatians 3:10, those who do not obey God’s law are under its curse. Sin yields the Law’s curses. We must repent of our sin and believe in Christ to be freed from the Law’s curses.

Those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ, will hear Him say, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

“Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies.” Psalms 119:22

David prayed that God would remove bad labels from him. His royal position did not shield him from derogatory comments. Throughout history, servants of God’s Word have been mistreated.

In John 15:18, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” Thanks to God’s grace, David could still say to God, “I have kept Your testimonies.”

“Princes also sit and speak against me, but Your servant meditates on Your statutes.” Psalms 119:23

Princes are sons of kings. David’s son Absalom spoke against him. He rallied sufficient people to temporarily overthrow his father’s reign. In this way, David foreshadowed Christ. The reign of Christ seemed to be overthrown when Judas betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. After that, Jesus was crucified, dead and buried, but then, He resurrected and is reigning today.

How did David respond to malicious monsters? He meditated on God’s statutes. Instead of dwelling on the attacks, he meditated on God’s Word. When some spoke against him, God spoke for him. Due to his joy in God, criticism did not shake him. Praise the Lord!

“Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.” Psalm 119:24

“Dear Heavenly Father please cause Your testimonies to be our delight and counselors. In the Name of Jesus, I ask this. Amen.”


[1] From Googles sources and Bible Gateway: “Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem. It contains 176 verses divided into 22 sections, with each section named after one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Instead of just one line per letter, all eight verses in a given section begin with that specific letter. For example, verses 17–24 start with the ג Gimel, and this exact pattern continues sequentially all the way through the final letter, Tau (ת).

גְּמֹ֖ל עַֽל־עַבְדְּךָ֥ אֶֽחְיֶ֗ה וְאֶשְׁמְרָ֥ה דְבָרֶֽךָ׃
גַּל־עֵינַ֥י וְאַבִּ֑יטָה נִ֝פְלָא֗וֹת מִתּוֹרָתֶֽךָ׃
גֵּ֣ר אָנֹכִ֣י בָאָ֑רֶץ אַל־תַּסְתֵּ֥ר מִ֝מֶּ֗נִּי מִצְוֺתֶֽיךָ׃
גָּרְסָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֣י לְתַאֲבָ֑ה אֶֽל־מִשְׁפָּטֶ֥יךָ בְכָל־עֵֽת׃
גָּ֭עַרְתָּ זֵדִ֣ים אֲרוּרִ֑ים הַ֝שֹּׁגִים מִמִּצְוֺתֶֽיךָ׃
גַּ֣ל מֵֽ֭עָלַי חֶרְפָּ֣ה וָב֑וּז כִּ֖י עֵדֹתֶ֣יךָ נָצָֽרְתִּי׃
גַּ֤ם יָֽשְׁב֣וּ שָׂ֭רִים בִּ֣י נִדְבָּ֑רוּ עַ֝בְדְּךָ֗ יָשִׂ֥יחַ בְּחֻקֶּֽיךָ׃
גַּֽם־עֵ֭דֹתֶיךָ שַׁעֲשֻׁעָ֗י אַנְשֵׁ֥י עֲצָתִֽי׃

Historically, each letter name corresponds to a concrete object. Over time, these pictures evolved into the letters used today. For example, ג Gimel was originally the symbol for camel.

[2-5] Material developed, added to and edited from Matthew Henry’s Commentary